The Feasting of Swords Wiki
"KNOW, oh prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars—Nemedia, Ophir, Brythunia, Hyperborea, Zamora with its dark-haired women and towers of spider-haunted mystery, Zingara with its chivalry, Koth that bordered on the pastoral lands of Shem, Stygia with its shadow-guarded tombs, Hyrkania whose riders wore steel and silk and gold. But the proudest kingdom of the world was Aquilonia, reigning supreme in the dreaming west. Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen- eyed,sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet."—The Nemedian Chronicles 'Welcome to the The Feasting of swords Wiki' This Wiki is dedicated to a wargame set in Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age. The FoS Project Hello, and welcome to our Wiki! The Feasting of Swords is a project dedicated to implementing Robert E. Howard's "Hyborian Age" - the age of Conan - as a tabletop war game. We will be using the Quarters war game rules to create game statistics for Howard's fictional empires and to arbitrate the battles that ensue. Some house rules will apply, and will be marked as such, but a vast majority of the content will use the rules as they are written. Miniatures scale will be done in 15mm. The stories set in the Hyborian Age mostly center around Conan as a solitary hero, with a scope and content more suited towards a role play game. However, a number of Howard's stories (most notably The Hour of the Dragon) feature mass combat in which the armies of several nations are described. In the west, the principal kingdoms are all populated by "Hyborian" peoples - descendants of northern tribesmen who swept down and conquered the various peoples who populated the north western regions after the last cataclysm. With respect given to the writer, these stories will form the base from which the development team will construct factional army lists. Holes, grey areas and unknowns will be filled with a combination of works by later authors, role play game supplements based on the era, fan speculation and the development team's own ideas. All effort will be given to source or otherwise vet the content of army lists so that intimate fans of Howard's writing can at least understand our decisions. The first three armies that will be the focus of the development team's efforts will be the following: The Kingdom of Aquilonia Aquilonia is a highly civilized human kingdom that is styled after the High to Late medieval period. Aquilonia is very large, and reigns "Supreme in the dreaming west" by the time Conan seizes the throne. Their armies are varied, and though they prize cavalry like all Hyborian nations, have a focus on highly disciplined, non-noble heavy infantry and archers. The Aquilonians will be styled on later High and early Late middle ages era English and French. Their army will feature a wide variety of unit choices, likely featuring high quality equipment but generally average statistics. Disciplined longbowmen and pikemen will form their backbone, but Feudal cavalry will be their heaviest hitters. Cimmerians The Cimmerians are a brooding, tribal lot dwelling in the darksome land of Cimmeria. They are what Howard referred to as "high barbarians" - that is, civilized but not terribly so. Little is really known about the Cimmerian people in spite of Howard's Conan being a native. A significant amount of speculation and imagination will fill the gaps. Likely this faction will be styled after Celtic peoples with a wide tech gap ranging between Neolithic and late Iron Age, depending on the unit type and tribe. Short range skirmishers and poorly protected but statistically powerful shock infantry will be predominant. Cimmeria does not seem to have a cavalry tradition, so it is probable that all their units will be on foot. Picts Howard's "Picts" were less like the Picts we know as a Celtic peoples and more like American Natives. This is because when Howard was a child, there were still Native American Indians in his region of Texas, called "Pawhee Picts". Where the Cimmerians are "high barbarians", the Picts are depicted as a race of outright savages. Their technology is crude, though it is stated they use a lot of bronze, which does require some sophistication. Thousands of years before this era, the Picts were themselves high barbarians, but have since sunk back towards "apedom". The Picts will be styled after Native American Woodland Indians. Howard's stories give more insight as to their way of war than that of Cimmeria's. Loosely disciplined, swift and stealthy archers will likely form their army's bulk, doubling as hand to hand infantry when needed. I suspect there will be few unit types, as the Pictish warmachine doesn't seem to subdivide their warriors based on role. However, Howard's tales do indicate that some regional tribes do have distinctive psychologies, so it is possible that the individual units can be modified from a base using tribal "upgrade packages" to represent different focuses and allow an army with more interest and variation. All three of these nations are at perpetual war with each other. Cimmeria and Pictland have a long-running blood feud, and Aquilonia has traditionally sought to push into both of their territories for a variety of reasons. They will have wildly different playstyles and models, which will make for interesting writing, painting and gaming. Be sure to check back on occasion, and don't be afraid to comment! Latest activity Photos and videos are a great way to add visuals to your wiki. Find videos about your topic by exploring Wikia's Video Library. Category:Browse